Lifting device



RwE. MANLEY LIFTING {DEVICE Filed Jan. 27, 1927 April 7, 19;,1.

3 Sheets-Sheet l April 7 1931- R. E. MANLEY 1,799,307

LIFTING bEvIcE Filed Jan. 2'7, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @51 4 mama, Z y 7 April 7, 1931. R. E. MANLEY 1,799,307

LIFTING DEVICE Filed Jan. 27, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 anvento'c I Pober/ [Mon/ey Patented Apr. 7, 1931 .FUNITEDQSTATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT E. fltIAIl'lILElY, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA LIFTING DEVICE Application filed January 27, 1927. Serial No. 163,936.

This invention relates to a lifting device and more particularly to a device of such a character which is light, easily movable, and

ca able of lifting objects through a considerab e distance. v

. vlVhile heretofore a number of different types of jacks and lifts have'been suggested,

.the smaller of'these' devices are'adapted to lift an object through only a very smalldisi510 tance, and the larger forms are too heavy and bulky for general use.. Accordingly they are not adapted to meet theneed for a light, easily movable device for lifting objects through a distance of several feet, especially bulky objects such, for example, as packing cases, trunks, barrels, the body portions of vehicles and other obj CtSj WhiCh' are too large and heavy to be easily moved about. r

' Thisinvention also aims to provide a lift- '20 ing device which is easily movable and arranged so that when an object has been lifted by it, even to a considerable height, it may be moved about, carrying theobject so lifted, with the application of a minimum of force.

invention is thus of considerable utility in manyicases in which it is desirable to raise a heavy and bulky "object'and then lower it. Examples ofsuch cases are the loading and unloading of freight cars, mounting automobile bodies on their chassis,etc.

In carrying out my invention, Iprovide a readily movable base upon whichis detachably mounted a vertical support. This support may be formed. by two'uprights positioned slightlyapart, and each having a flange extending toward the other and in the same plane, forming a slideway. Mounted in this slideway is an arm or other lifting member having rollers bracketed thereto,

I adapted toengage respectively the front and rear surfaces of the flanges: The lifting membermay be supported in the slideway by a rope, cable or other suitable power transmitting means connecting the lifting 5 member to a control means for raising and lowering thennember in the slideway. In association with the power transmitting means, a meansfor. increasing the mechanical efficiency. ofthe device may be provided; such, for example, as a system of pulleys.

The control. means, for the power transmitting means, which. I have illustrated herein as a Windlass, is fixed to the rear of the uprights, and at a height conveniently within reach.' This control device may be actuated by any suitable source of power, but ordinarily'it will be operated by hand,'power being transmitted to the control. means through a hand crank and a speed reducing train which may be provided between the crank and the control means to increase the force transmitted to thelifting member.

The lifting member may, ofcourse,be of any desired form according to the work to be done, and arms of various sizes and shapes may be readily substituted for one another. In order to provide for the use of various sizes oflifting arms and to insure a solid base support or the device which will not p, the base may be made extensible or tele- 3 Figure 4 is a perspectiveview of the lifting I arm, showing the manner in which it is slidably mounted.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 3 showing the manner in which the lifting arm rollers engage the flanges of the slideway'.

Figure 6 is a partially cutaway view of the device showing a modified form of lifting arm mountedon a device having a telescopic base.

' Figure 7 is a front view of the telescopic base shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the telescopic base taken on line 88 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a detail of a portion of the lifting arm showing a modified manner of mounting a pulley membertherein.

The numeral 1 1s used to designate a movable base on which is mounted a vertical support comprising two uprights 2 and 3 slightly spaced apart. The uprights have flanges 4 and 5, respectively, which extend toward each other in the same plane and form a slideway 6. In this track or slideway 6 is mounted a movable arm or lifting member 7, having integrally formed therewith the brackets 8 and 9 in which the rollers 10 and 11 are mounted and positioned so as to engage, respectively, the front and rear surfaces of the flanges 4 and 5. The lifting member 7 may be of any desired form and, preferably, has a vertical portion of considerable length extending longitudinally in the direction of the support, in order to give the member greater stability in the slideway, and a horizontal arm portion extending outwardly from the support and at right angles thereto, adapted to engage an object to be lifted.

In the upper portion of the lifting member, I provide a cutaway portion or slot 12 in which is journalled a pulley 13' and at the top of the member I provide an eye 14 or other suitable attaching means for securing a cord or other flexible connecting means thereto, or for engaging a hook carried by the con necting means in order to render it readily disengageable. At thetop of my device and preferably journalled between the uprights 2 and 3, I provide two or more pulleys 15 and, in connection therewith, the guide roller 16 fixed to the supports on either side in order to prevent a cord or rope or other connecting means passing over the pulleys 15 from coming into contact with the frame. The pulleys 15, together with the pulley 13 journalled in the movable lifting member, form a system of pulleys by which the mechanical advantage of the device may be increased in a well known manner.

At the rear of my device and secured to the uprights 2 and 3 and extending'laterally thereacross, I provide the bracket 17 supporting a shaft 18 onwhich is fixedly mounted the gear 19 and the Windlass 20. Positioned adjacent and slightly above the bracket 17 is the bracket 21 which serves as a support for the shaft on which is fixed the gear 23 adapted to engage the gear 19. Also fixed to the shaft 22 is the crank 24 by which the gear 23 may be actuated. The dogs 54 mounted on the exterior of the bracket 21 are provided to engage the gear 23 and to lock it in position thereby prevent-ing the Windlass 20 from unwinding.

The lifting member is supported in the slideway 6 by means of the cord, cable or other flexible connecting means 25 secured at one end to the eye 14 of the lifting member and at the other end to the Windlass 20. Intermediate the lifting member and the Windlass the connecting means 25 engages the pulley system provided therefore, passing over one of the fixed pulleys 15, the moving pulley 13 car ried by the lifting arm 7 and over the second fixed pulley. It will be readily seen that, when the crank arm 24 is turned, power will be transmitted through the speed reducing gear train to the Windlass and through the connecting means 25 to the lifting member 7. It will be obvious that, by varying the relative size of the speed reducing gear train and the number and arrangement of the pulleys, the ratio ofthe lifting force to the force applied may be very greatly modified.

In Figure 6 I have shown a modified form of lifting arm 27, which may be substituted for the shorter arm 7. When this is done, the

arm 7, due to the manner in which it is mounted in the slideway and the fact that the rear of the support may be entirely open, may be dropped to the bottom of the slide out of the way in the manner illustrated, or a slot may be provided in the flanges 4 and 5 near the base of the supports 2 and 8 through which one arm may be withdrawn from the slideway and another arm substituted therefor. If desired the pulleys 15 may be removably mounted between the uprights 2 and 3 so that they may be readily taken down permitting thelifting arms to be mounted in and withdrawn from the slideway 6 from the top of the support.

Each of the arms 7 and 27 is provided at its outer end with a aw 41 which is adapted to engage a chain, cable or cordage with which an object to be lifted is bound and to hold it securely without permitting it to slip.

In figure 1 another modification of the lift ing arm is shown comprising the arm extension 28 secured to the arm 7. One end of the extension 28 is bifurcated and may he slipped over the arm and secured thereto by the pin 42 passing through the bifurcated end of the extension and the aperture 43 provided therefor through the arm 7. A brace 44 is also provided which is secured to the arm 7 in a similar manner by the pin 45 insertablethrough the aperture 46. The arm 28 is straight having a smooth upper surface so that it may be inserted under large objects which would otherwise be very awkward to lift.

The base 1 is mounted upon the rollers 47 and casters 48, so that it may be easily moved about even when carrying a heavy load. The rollers 47 are journalled in the U-shaped I, brackets 49 fixed to the forward portion of the base arms. The casters 48 may be fixed to the base as shown at 50, or in any other suitable manner permitting them to turn freely in any direction.

The base may be extended when desired by the addition of the member 29 as shown in Fig. 1, or bases of various sizes may be interchangeablyused. Thisismadepossiblebythe readily demountable character of the frame,

the various parts of which may be secured together by the nut and bolt connections 51.

#I prefer to use an adjustable base such as I have illustrated, and which is comprised by the telescopically mounted channel iron members 30 and 31. Members 30 and 31 are adjustably connected together by means of bolt 32 and slot 33. By the relative adjustment of these members the base may be m changed in size to meet the requirements imposed by the length of arm used and the shape and weight of the object to be lifted.

It will be evident that, my invention, described above, provides a lifting device which is easy to handle, being relatively light in weight and readily demountable, and which, at the same time, is capable of a wide variety of uses and applications.

While I- have disclosed one embodiment of my invention herein in detail, other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention which is to be limited only by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A lifting device comprising a pair of nested frames having slidable engagement with each other, a support mounted thereon,

, said support having a, slideway extending longitudinally thereof, a lifting member slidso ablymountedinsaidslideway, a windlassfixed to said support, a number of pulleys carried by said support adjacent its top, another pulley mounted upon said lifting member and a flexible connecting means attached at one end to said lifting member, passing around said pulleys and attached at its other end to said Windlass.

2. A lifting device comprising a vertical support having a slideway extending longi- 40 tudinally thereof, and a member slidably mounted in said slideway and controlled by a Windlass through the medium of a flexible power transmitting means passing over a system of pulleys provided therefor to increase the mechanical advantage of said device, said slidable member being slotted to receive a shaft and pulley mounted thereon, said member having means at one end for engaging a hook member carried by said flexible member, and having at the other end a portion extending outwardly at right angles to said vertical support, adapted to engage the object to be lifted.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my r3 name to this specification this 26th day of January, 1927.

ROBERT E. MAN'LEY. 

